Rock bolts are installed in the roofs of mines, tunnels and other underground spaces for securing the roof of the mine in place and preventing the roof from collapsing when the mine is in use and workers may be in the mine. Typically, a bolt hole is drilled in the mine roof and then a rock bolt is secured in the drilled bolt hole.
It is common for the rock bolts to be installed by using a vehicle with a rock bolting apparatus attached to a boom. The rock bolting apparatus can be raised or lowered using the boom so that the rock bolting apparatus can come into contact with the roof of the mine to drill a bolt hole and install a rock bolt in the drilled bolt hole. The purpose of the boom is to position the rock bolting apparatus well out in front of the vehicle so that the vehicle and the operator of the vehicle can remain under a portion of the mine roof that has already been rock bolted and secured.
Once a bolt hole is drilled in the mine roof, a rock bolt has to be installed in the bolt hole. The rock bolt is typically inserted into the bolt hole and torqued to try and achieve a desired amount of torque on the rock bolt.